Mountains and Sand Dunes in Morocco and Algeria

This image shows southern and western parts of Algeria near the border with Morocco and Western Sahara. The southwestern stretch of the Atlas Mountains can be seen in Morocco in the upper left quadrant.

Moving south across the mountainous terrain, one comes to an area of desert that is part of the Assa-Zag province of Morocco and Tindouf, the westernmost province of Algeria. Despite the barren landscape, Tindouf is a resource-rich province, with important quantities of iron ore.

Both to the south and to the east, rows of orange sand dunes can be seen. These are best viewed in the full image, where their long, high ridges can be observed individually in great detail.